Western Michigan University s5

Telecommunications Law & Policy - Com. 5410

Richard A. Gershon, Ph.D. School of Communication Western Michigan University 1903 West Michigan Ave. Kalamazoo, MI 49008

Tel. (269) 387-3182 (Office)

Required Reading and Materials

1) Kent Milddleton & William Lee, The Law of Public Communication, 7th ed. 2010 Update (Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 2010).

2) Richard A. Gershon, Com. 5410 Course Pack, including a full set of power point slides. The Com. 5410 course pack is available at the WMU bookstore.

3) A set of additional on-line readings and case study analysis will be featured in this course.

COURSE OUTLINE and READING ASSIGNMENTS ______Week of: ______

Jan 12. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION AND THE LAW

Text: Chapter 1., pp. 1-24

Jan. 19 THE FIRST AMENDMENT

Schenk v. United States Available at: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=249&invol=47

N.Y. Times v. U.S., The Pentagon Papers, 1971 Available at: http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761585450/Pentagon_Papers.html and http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/pubs/03BRwhistle07.html

1 United States v. O'Brien, 1968 Available at: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1967/1967_232/ and http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/obrien.html

Texas v. Johnson, 1989 Available at: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1988/1988_88_155/ and http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=491&invol=397

Jan. 26 LIBEL Feb. 2 Text: Chapter 4., pp. 93-174

New York Times v. Sullivan, 1971 Available at: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1970/1970_1873/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times_Co._v._Sullivan

Feb. 9 PRIVACY Feb. 16 Text: Chapter 5., pp. 176-232.

U.S.A. Patriot Act, 2001 Available at: http://www.whiteho use.gov/infocus/patriotact/ and http://www.aclu.org/safefree/resources/17343res20031114.html

Feb. 23 TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND ANTITRUST LAW

Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890 Available at: http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0844878.html and http://www.linfo.org/sherman.html

Price Fixing, Bid Rigging and Market Allocation Schemes Available at: http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/guidelines/primer-ncu.htm

United States. v. Microsoft Corporation, 2000 Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft#Settlement

2 WorldCom Case Study, Available at: http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Finance/FINC022.htm

Mar. 9 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Mar. 16 Text: Chapter 6., pp. 233-280.

Principle of Fair Use Available at: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

Sony Corporation of America v. Universal Studios, 1984 Available at: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1982/1982_81_1687/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Corp._of_America_v._Universal_City_Studios,_Inc.

A&M Records v. Napster, Inc., 2001 Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_&_M_Records,_Inc._v._Napster,_Inc.

Mar. 23 BROADCAST LAW & POLICY I.

Text: Chapter 1., pp. 4-7. Chapter 3., pp. 77-79.

Federal Communications Commission Available at: http://www.fcc.gov/aboutus.html

Charles Cliff, WLBT – The Birth of Regulating Public Available at: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/3 5/4b/8d.pdf and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEfMVzeGd8Q

FCC v. Pacifica Foundation Available at: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1977/1977_77_528

Mar. 30 BROADCAST LAW & POLICY II.

3 Regulation of Political Candidates and Broadcasting Text: Chapter 7., pp. 304-322.

Telecommunications Act of 1996 Available at: http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/U/htmlU/uspolicyt/uspolicyt.htm

Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC Available at: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1968/1968_2_2

Apr. 6 TELEPHONY

United States v. AT&T (Divestiture Case Study) Available at: http://www.corp.att.com/history/history3.html

Apr. 13 CABLE TELEVISION

Turner Broadcasting v. FCC Available at: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1990-1999/1993/1993_93_44/ and http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/95-992.ZO.html

NCTA v. Brand X. Internet Services Available at: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/04-277.ZO.html